2015

Bloodsucking Bastards

Posted on by moviebloke

(USA 2015)

Bloodsucking Bastards exceeded my expectations—which admittedly were not high. A weird sort of mix of Office Space and Office Killer with Twilight and Dead Alive, it was stupid, sophomoric, gory fun. The plot– the head of a failing sales department hires a vampire to improve productivity– could have moved faster, but the acting was surprisingly good. Both Joey Kern (Tim) and Fran Kranz (Evan) were highlights.

Probably the most “independent” film I’ve seen all year, Bloodsucking Bastards thankfully did not aim to be more than it is.  Bravo!

(Facets) C+

http://www.bloodsuckingbastards.com

Steve Jobs: Man in the Machine

Posted on by moviebloke

(USA 2015)

While I always got the appeal of Apple products—and I made the switch from Microsoft to Mac almost ten years ago myself—I never jumped on the Steve Jobs bandwagon. He was, in my view, another capitalist baby boomer wunderkind who found his way to a billion dollars with a good idea. That’s not a bad thing—it just doesn’t make one a god or a rock star.

Even if it doesn’t dive deep, Steve Jobs: Man in the Machine does its job showing the flawed, cutthroat, and perhaps downright evil man the Mac maker became during his career. Comprised of footage of Jobs himself—much of it taken from a deposition in a lawsuit against Apple—juxtaposed between interviews with those who knew him mostly from work, it’s an interesting play in contrasts and contradictions. Neither Jobs not Apple are what they seem on the surface—and this is far from a flattering piece.

What ultimately lost me was the film’s unfortunate devolution into a hypefest of Apple products—I suppose one cannot discuss Jobs without discussing his many creations, but the way it came across seemed beside the point.

(Landmark Century) C-

http://www.magpictures.com/stevejobsthemaninthemachine/

She’s Funny That Way

Posted on by moviebloke

(USA 2015)

Peter Bogdanovich’s latest has been panned pretty much across the board, and I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s an homage to “screwball” comedies of yore and perhaps Woody Allen; maybe it’s a complete ripoff—I confess that I too thought of Bullets Over Broadway within, oh, fifteen minutes or so. Either way, She’s Funny That Way is actually funny even if it is fluffy. It also boasts strong performances all around, particularly by Jennifer Aniston as a neurotic, on-the-edge therapist.

Is it a film for which any of the actors in it will be remembered? Probably not. But I still enjoyed it.

(Gene Siskel Film Center) B-

http://lionsgatepremiere.com/shesfunnythatway

Grandma

Posted on by moviebloke

(USA 2015)

A day in the life of a cranky, emotionally blocked lesbian (Lily Tomlin) whose teenaged granddaughter (Julia Garner) appears on her doorstep to inform her that she’s pregnant and needs money for an abortion—scheduled for 5:30 p.m. that day. Part “road movie”—and I use that term loosely—the two embark on a mini Odyssey through Los Angeles that reveals who they are and where their limits lie.

Grandma has a lot to say about quite a bit: Sixties counterculture, feminism, sexuality, relationships, and yes women’s health issues. But it does so without getting overemotional or heavy-handed. I really wasn’t sure what I was walking into, and frankly my expectations were low. I left satisfied: Grandma is more complex than it lets on.

(AMC River East) B+

http://sonyclassics.com/grandma/

People Places Things

Posted on by moviebloke

(USA 2015)

A gentle and engaging sorta-comedy about breaking up, starting over, and hanging onto what’s important. If that sounds sappy, it is—“sentimental,” “sensitive,” and “bittersweet” are words that describe this film.

People Places Things has a good share of nice, quiet moments and truths, although a few bitingly cynical and hilarious scenes succeed in balancing it out. Regina Hall and Jessica Williams steal the show in their secondary roles as a mother and daughter who get involved in the life of protagonist Will Henry (Jemaine Clement). While People Places Things no doubt tugs at the heartstrings, it manages to avoid falling headfirst into “schlock.” I doubt it’s something I’ll ever seek out to see a second time, though.

(Gene Siskel Film Center) B-

http://www.peopleplacesthingsfilm.com

3-1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets

Posted on by moviebloke

(USA 2015)

Another heartbreaking story of another racially fueled shooting of an unarmed black teen, Jordan Davis, in Florida the day after Thanksgiving (“Black Friday”) in 2012. No one wins here: Jordan, his friends who were with him, his parents, Michael Dunn (the man who shot him), Dunn’s fiancé, and society at large. Marc Silver’s 3-1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets succeeds in reaching beyond race to illustrate why “stand your ground” laws are fatally flawed.

(Gene Siskel Film Center) B

http://www.takepart.com/three-and-a-half-minutes-ten-bullets

Southpaw

Posted on by moviebloke

(USA 2015)

I wanted to love this film. Sadly, I did not. Jake Gyllenhaal knows how to get to the core of a character, and Southpaw is no exception despite the annoying ghetto tough guy mumble he used for his character, Billy Hope, a fictitious boxer. The plot, however, is tedious and rife with clichés that aren’t even worth noting here—boxing and others. I also picked up a not-so-subtle racism that turned me off: the black or brown characters are one-dimensional and serve as either bad guys or helpers to Hope’s comeback. This struck me as particularly odd considering that the director (Antoine Fuqua) is black. A mildly interesting potential spark between Hope and his daughter’s social worker, Angela (Naomie Harris), was left undeveloped, dangling there through the movie like a wet snot. Yawn.

(AMC River East) D

http://southpawfilm.com

Best of Enemies

Posted on by moviebloke

(USA 2015)

This is the true story of the ten-night debates between William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal before the 1968 Presidential election. Culled mostly of footage from then-struggling third-place network ABC news archives, the best parts of the film are the debates themselves: Buckley and Vidal go after each other with biting, brutal wit. Best of Enemies highlights issues of class and ideology that we still see today—and amusingly shows things no one gets away with saying on broadcast television anymore.

I thought Best of Enemies would be more fun than it was. I also left the theater liking Buckley a lot more than Vidal, even though my personal politics are far more aligned with the latter. Buckley was charming; Vidal was not.

(Landmark Century) B-

http://www.magpictures.com/bestofenemies/

Do I Sound Gay?

Posted on by moviebloke

(USA 2015)

An informative and amusing exploration of the “gay voice,” that effeminate and often annoying over-the-top stereotypical way that so many gay men speak—and that one man (David Thorpe) wants to change. Thorpe looks to speech therapy and academia but mostly pop culture for answers, enlisting gay celebrities like Dan Savage, George Takei, and Tim Gunn along the way. Their responses reveal the conflicted attitudes gay men hold toward masculinity and identity.

Despite its merits, Do I Sound Gay? ultimately underwhelmed me. It provided useful tidbits of information, but nothing solid or groundbreaking.

(Gene Siskel Film Center) C

http://www.doisoundgay.com

Amy

Posted on by moviebloke

(UK 2015)

I was not an Amy Winehouse fan, but I am now. Amy traces Winehouse’s life from adolescence to pre-fame and breaking through with “Rehab,” to her druggy antics and early death. Unlike I Am Chris Farley, Amy delves into what was behind the mess and how it played out, showing a flawed and vulnerable person behind the personality. Remarkably, it is not judgmental—though I can see why her family reneged on allowing filmmaker Asif Kapadia access to private material. Throw in some great songs with anecdotes about how they came to be and live performances, and you’ve got a winner.

(Landmark Century) A-

http://www.amy-movie.com